Snow
by squigglysquid
Summary: One Shot belonging to the Parable series: Garrus and Jane take the twins to Thessia, only to be surprised by the first day of snow, both for the season and the children. Turns out, even the adults can be children on a day like this.


The heavy stomps of feet is something Jane is used to, something familiar in her life. However, where she once took it as a sign of enemies approaching or the footfalls of her squad at her back, she now only equates it to the all new terror in her life.

The terror of four year old twins, Damocles and Cassia.

A weight lands on her half awake form and completely passed out mate's with the force of two charging krogans. She groans loud as a surprised grunt announces Garrus' startled jolt into wakefulness and the giggles of two little shits echoes in the darkened room.

"Mommy! Daddy! Wake up, wake up!" Cassia's high vocals chirp and trill with excitement as someone causes a bouncing on the bed and another pulls the blankets off their mother's head.

Damocles' head pokes around the shield from the onslaught and chill air of the morning, grinning and mandibles flicking in happiness. "Mommy! Get up! Come see!"

She groans again and tries to wave off her son. "Go away. It's too early…"

"It's seven, mommy," their daughter says matter of factory before a bounce disturbs the bed and Garrus grunts again. "Come on, daddy."

"Daddy isn't going anywhere if you keep jumping on him," he deadpans as Jane feels the bed shift and she looks to see him sitting up. He yawns and lifts their daughter off his waist to set her on the ground, but she merely climbs back up when he turns to deal with her brother.

Damocles ducks under his still sleepy reach before hopping on his mother. "Mommy! Wake up! There's snow outside!"

Her eyes open wide as she looks up. "What?"

"Snow," Cassia explains, peeking over Jane's shoulder with a purr and grin. "It's outside, just like Auntie Liara said!"

"This is why I said we shouldn't visit Thessia in winter," Garrus deadpans as Jane sits up with a groan, her body still stiff from sleep as she keeps the blanket to her chest to cover her breasts. Her husband looks to their kids with a raised brow. "Why are you so happy about the prospect of freezing in the snow?"

Jane snorts. "Looks like not all turians hate the cold."

"They haven't been to Noveria."

"Snow! Snow! Snow!" Both children shout as they jump on their abused parents, repeating their demands over and over.

Ears ringing from excited and impatient vocals, Jane cringes and raises her hands in surrender. "Alright! God damn… Calm the fuck down, you two little monsters." Both grin and chirp in happiness at winning this battle of wills. "Besides," she says with a glare at their pajamas, "You aren't even fucking dressed. No way you're going outside like that." Pointing a finger at the door, she adds, "Go on and get dressed in something where you won't freeze your balls off."

They purr and nod, letting Garrus pick them up and set them down on the ground. Call them what she wants, but she loves them to the core of her being, a place only occupied by their father alone for the longest time. Now, he shared that throne with their two children and there is no other place Jane would rather they belong.

"They get that from you, you know." Her husband's amused voice pulls her from her thought and gains him a narrow eyed glare.

"That's it," she threatens as she stands up to search for clothes. "The first sign of you freezing to death and I'm leaving you out there."

"So mean," he whispers with a chuckle as he, too gets up out of bed.

When they head downstairs, they find their children wearing every scrap of clothing they brought, plus some. She and Garrus had packed for the cold weather, but were sure - by Liara's promise - that they'd be visiting _before_ it's be cold enough to snow.

Part of her is starting to suspect that their old friend just wanted to trick them so that their children could see the white menace for the first time. Plus, that coy look on the asari's face only adds to her suspicion.

"You devious bitch," Jane says as she takes the offered mug of something fragrant and steaming. Liara merely shrugs with that grin and returns to some sort of large platters of food she's preparing as if for a feast. Jane chuckles with a shake of her head, letting the woman shrug it off, for now.

"I do not understand primitive children's amazement at natural weather occurrences."

Garrus snorts at Javik's confusion before taking a sip of his own drink and looking to his children. "You two ready?"

"Uh-huh," they answer in tandem with nods of their heads.

Jane watches as her mate kneels before each to check their heavy jackets and gloves. She has no clue how thick of protection a turian would need, but he seems to be satisfied when he nods and stands, opening the large glass doors for them.

It only takes them a moment of awe at the falling flakes of white before they bolt out into the yard blanketed in snow. Despite his complaints, Garrus stays at the doorway with a smile to watch them as they lift their hands to the sky and stick out their tongues in curiosity. As she watches, Jane joins him at his side and shares his smile.

"You know," she starts, getting his attention as he sips his drink. "There's a game humans like to play when it snows."

"And that is?"

She smirks and sets her mug down, strolling out into the crunch of the snow. Hearing his questioning trill at her back, she leans down and collects a handful of snow. Their twins look at their mother now joining in the fun of this new amazement and watch as she pads the snow into a tight ball.

With a wink to Damocles and Cassia, she spins and throws. Her snowball hits her target head on, literally, and her mate yelps when it hits him square on the nose and breaks apart to splash in his now cold drink. He gives her first a surprised and thrown look as the twins laugh, but it soon turns into a glare as he takes the challenge.

"Oh, now you're in for it." He sets down his drink and steps out, shoulders square as he walks past her. She raises a brow and watches as he motions to the kids. "Damocles, you're with me. Let's show these girls how it's really done."

Their son lights up in delight and rushes to his father's side as Garrus finds a bench to duck behind and Cassia giggles at the prospect of getting a repeat performance of her father taking a snow ball. Jane rushes to her daughter, picks her up, and slides behind a fountain shielded from the freezing cold.

She makes it behind cover just a moment before she hears the thump of a round hitting the wood of the fountain's cover. Cassia looks up to her in rapt attention as Jane motions to watch her with a gesture she once used in battle. Her daughter nods and drops her eyes down to where Jane forms a tight ball of snow.

Handing it over, Jane jerks her chin to the edge of their cover. "Stay in cover until they run out of ammo and then throw. Aim for a body shot. It's a bigger target." She glances through the gap in the cover as her hands work on another ball. "We'll aim for heads once we get used to the weight of the snow ball. Good?"

"Yep!" Her daughter gives a childish salute like she's seen in vids before sneaking towards the opposite end of the fountain.

With snowball in hand, Jane moves to her end of cover and looks over just in time to duck under a shot. She can swear she feels the wind whistle through her hair as it barely misses her and hits the tree at her back.

"Getting slow, Jane!" Her mate yells as she bounces her own shot in her hand before rounding the corner of her cover and tossing the ball as she slides behind a tree. "Oh. That would have hit me if you actually took the effort to aim."

"Smart ass," she puffs out as she glances over to see Cassia just having fun tossing at her brother. A chuckle vibrates in her throat at she considers the fact that it would turn into a competition between the adults. _Leave it to us to be more immature than our own kids._

A ball hits her in the shoulder and she grunts, hearing her mate laugh before yelping at taking his own shot. Jane brushes off her shoulder and glances to her daughter to see a proud grin on her face. That gets a laugh as she throws a thumbs up, mouthing 'nice shot' to Cassia.

Rolling back into cover with the little girl, she sees a ball hit above their heads to knock snow over their heads. Jane shivers as some falls between her neck and jacket, but at least her daughter is spared by her thick scarf. She's pretty sure Liara pointedly forgot to get thick-ass jackets for her and Garrus just so they would be at this disadvantage. _She has always liked to see us suffer…_

That thought makes Jane snort as she hands Cassia two more snow balls and switches places. Peeking out, she sees Damocles throw a shot and dodges it just in time to see a snowball from her side take the opening. It almost gets him - _damn good shot_ \- and Garrus takes her distraction to throw one at her, hitting her square in the forehead.

"Scratch one!"

"You dick!" She grabs a handful of snow, quickly pats it down, and tosses it as he's boasting. It hits square in his chest and she laughs at his huff of disappointment. "What's the matter? Can't take a hit?"

"Hear that, Damocles? She thinks we will fall with one hit."

"Fuck that!" He shouts and Jane snorts when she hears Garrus deadpan something about following in his mother's footsteps. As Garrus is distracted by the conversation with their son, Jane motions for Cassia to throw as she rounds her own corner and throws.

Both miss, but snaps him to attention as Damocles releases a surprised trill and Garrus throws a ball in Jane's direction. Eventually, the two 'supposed' adults train their focus on one upping the other and dodging their children's stray shots while Damocles and Cassia gain more amusement out of their competition than trying to his their sibling with chilling balls of snow.

Jane doesn't know how much time passes before her arms are sore and deep trenches of missing snow surround their little place of cover behind the fountain. Cassia has since moved to her side to try and sight and make ammunition for her, too distracted by laughing to do any throwing of her own. She's pretty sure Damocles has done much the same with how fast Garrus is able to replenish his ammo.

"Everyone," Liara calls out from the doorway of the house. "Food is ready!"

Their children yell out in tandem, something that combines into gibberish, and run out of their covers without a care for enemy fire. Jane chuckles at how their movement is slow due to the deepening of the snow over their fun and watches as Garrus stands from behind the bench, stretching his back.

"Well, Vakarian," she says as she stands, smirking. "I think I won this match."

"Oh?" He raises a brow. "What makes you think that?"

Smirk widening, she pulls her hand from her back and tosses her last snowball, hitting him on the chest. Just a reminder who has won.


End file.
